A Nettie for Jethro Crabb

As mentioned elsewhere, my contribution to the after-show gift-giving and character-based poem reading was this, dedicated to Jethro, and his wife-beating character. It was written, and read, in the style of a ‘beat’ poet, befitting the beatings he would hand out.

“Who?”
A question.
“What did you ‘ave? One or a two?”
Two of course.
The play.
We’re back there.
“Who?”
Us. I’m painting a picture here.
The silence.
“Sit down love”
Storm-clouds gathering, boiling sky. A theatre holds its breath. Intercom hiss.
Downstairs club pounding.
Silence burns through it all, until we’re told,
“You’ll never do it again.”
And after tonight,
He won’t.